Hastings police release sketch of man sought for exposing himself to girls

HASTINGS -- Police are investigating two incidents involving what appears to be the same man suspected of exposing himself to four girls on March 7.

The first incident reportedly occurred at the trestle foot bridge that crosses the Thornapple River between E. Mill and Apple streets. A 12-year-old girl had crossed the bridge to the north about 4:45 p.m., and as she passed a man who was walking to the south, he exposed himself to her, according to reports.

Jerry Sarver, chief of the Hastings Police Department, said it was two days before the girl told her father about the incident and then two days before the father brought her in to talk to police.

Sarver said the girl then told officers that a similar incident had happened to her friends.

The second incident reportedly occurred the same day near the annex building of Central Elementary School. Three girls, ages 11 and 12, were talking when a man exposed himself to them as he walked past them toward the north, reports say. The girls found an adult who called the police.

Sarver said the girls told police that the suspect was wearing basketball-type pants that fell down, along with his boxers, as he kept walking and did not say anything.

"It'd be kind of hard to walk," Sarver said. "We're handling these as if they actually happened.

"We're still looking at these as serious, but there's some irony there."

The suspect was described as being in his 40s, 5-feet-10-inches, 180 pounds, and with scruffy facial hair.

In both incidents, he reportedly wore a dark "silky" running type suit and athletic shoes.

In the first incident, the suspect reportedly was wearing a white baseball hat. In the second incident, he was wearing a red baseball hat and a black sweatshirt, with the hood pulled over top of the hat.

Anyone with information about the incident or the suspect is asked to contact the department at 269-945-5744 or Silent Observer at 1-800-310-9031